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Ankama needs your help!!
Alright guys, this may be off-topic for the game's forums, but it's actually pretty massive! Ankama is currently running a Kickstarter (Click here) to get the anime dubbed in English. So far, we've already raised enough to get Season 1 dubbed, and are well on our way to getting Season 2 dubbed as well!

Now, this isn't all of course. Because this is a Kickstarter, there's also a *tonne* more in it for us all for donating than just getting the anime dubbed! (Which is pretty fantastic in its own right, even if you've never watched it before) Right now, you can get the Blu-Ray copies of all of the seasons we unlock, some awesome merch, and they've just announced that if we fund Season 2, they'll also give out both of the Manga Tomes *In English* as a reward for low-level and up tiers!

And did I mention there's also a lucrative special in-game item that they've yet to even reveal, starting at some pretty low tiers as well?

Now, I'd thoroughly encourage you all to donate above the low-level tiers if you're able, but even if you only have a couple hours' wages to spare, you can still get *every single one* of the things I've mentioned above!!

There's no time to waste! The Kickstarter ends on February 19th, but there are some tiers that are limited to how many can get them, and it's on a first-come-first-served basis!

I know we can all find it in our hearts (and wallets) to give at least a little back to this amazing company that has made so many incredible products! And you'll still get some severely awesome things back in return! Everyone wins! Tell your friends too!

Haha, well hopefully this Kickstarter will get them a good deal of profit, as well as showing North American networks that there's a lot of interest in the show, thereby bringing even more money Ankama's way, and I'm sure that'll give them plenty of motivation to hire more people for projects across the board!

Not to mention, they said that if this one was a success, they'd likely start running even more Kickstarters, and the game's bound to come up pretty early on that list of other Kickstarters!

Plus, we need a good deal more people to donate, as they may actually be losing a bit of money from the amazing prizes and tonnes of Voice Acting work and reanimation of mouths they'll be doing for so little money. If we can get the figures high enough for this to be a win-win venture for everyone, they'll almost definitely continue improving their core products in this way, and we'll all get more amazing service!

This Kickstarter kind of makes me suspicious, honestly, which is why I feel reluctant to contribute.

I can't even play Wakfu, since I can't subscribe and support hasn't answered my ticket, which supposedly has something to do with corporate reshuffling. Bugs have persisted since release, nearly two years ago. Players are referring to "Glory Days" as if the golden time of the game as long since passed.

If the game itself is having so many problems, and yet funds and manpower have not grown to help correct that, then that makes me think the game is starting to go under. Add in that the corporate side of Ankama is willing to abandon the subscription model they have in newer servers, and the fact that they've chosen to do a Kickstarter to port the Anime, instead of using their own funding, helps reinforce that seemingly very probable possibility.

It's basically seems to be a way to charge money directly from the playerbase in order to port the series, then redistribute the series in the same manner in English, instead of being genuinely interested in sharing the content to begin with. And I'd be willing to say, "Hey, maybe it really is just a matter of getting the funds to hire a professional localization team", too, if all the other stuff with the game wasn't also going wrong or otherwise indicating lack of funding, motivation, or staff.

I'm sure I'll get quite the tongue-lashing from enthusiasts, but be honest: They're asking you to pay for it. It's not being given to you. It was given to the original audience. Clearly, the goal with this has changed, drastically.

100k was *extra* to include the subs as well 80k was all they needed for dubbing season 1.
150k will get us the OVAs, and 200k will get us season 2
There are many more locked stretch goals as well that we`ll see as we get closer to them!
(They`ve hinted strongly at revealing info about season 3 if we reach them)

This Kickstarter kind of makes me suspicious, honestly, which is why I feel reluctant to contribute.

I can't even play Wakfu, since I can't subscribe and support hasn't answered my ticket, which supposedly has something to do with corporate reshuffling. Bugs have persisted since release, nearly two years ago. Players are referring to "Glory Days" as if the golden time of the game as long since passed.

If the game itself is having so many problems, and yet funds and manpower have not grown to help correct that, then that makes me think the game is starting to go under. Add in that the corporate side of Ankama is willing to abandon the subscription model they have in newer servers, and the fact that they've chosen to do a Kickstarter to port the Anime, instead of using their own funding, helps reinforce that seemingly very probable possibility.

It's basically seems to be a way to charge money directly from the playerbase in order to port the series, then redistribute the series in the same manner in English, instead of being genuinely interested in sharing the content to begin with. And I'd be willing to say, "Hey, maybe it really is just a matter of getting the funds to hire a professional localization team", too, if all the other stuff with the game wasn't also going wrong or otherwise indicating lack of funding, motivation, or staff.

I'm sure I'll get quite the tongue-lashing from enthusiasts, but be honest: They're asking you to pay for it. It's not being given to you. It was given to the original audience. Clearly, the goal with this has changed, drastically.

They're just trying to milk money out of literally everything they can.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy the anime, and it has the most beautiful animation I`ve seen in the genre. It`s well worth it, if you ask me. The series has sort of grown its own legs, and left the advertisement realm, traveling to its own independence

I'd submit that the Wakfu series is one of the finest pieces of animation to come out in the last decade, both in artistic quality and the scope of its world-building. It deserves to be brought to a wider audience, and so subbing and dubbing the show is very justified. (or long overdue)

I'm annoyed that the fans are the ones shouldering the cost of this operation, but, well... if there are fans WILLING to do so, then I guess from a business perspective, Ankama would be foolish to not accept their fan's generosity. What I'm really curious about is whether Ankama genuinely could NOT afford to cover their own costs for this. Kickstarter is usually used by indie creators and fresh start-ups.

Well, the fact that they're actually losing money on some of the lower tiers shows that they're willing to sacrifice a bit to make us happy. They've also introduced update after update on the project, adding in insane perks for contributors, and taking tonnes of feedback as to what else people want to see, and have implemented it.

And to reiterate, you can only say that the show is pure advertisement in the absolute loosest sense of the term. It started off as a bit of a promo, but has since grown into even deeper lore, and adventure on its own. It's all run by Ankama, yes, but not solely to serve the game. There's even another show now whose purpose is more to explain some things in the first show than it is to serve the game.

In all, it's a fantastic product, and the Kickstarter has showed a very good side of Ankama. They've openly stated that success in this project will very likely bring them back for more projects, one of which is almost definitely the games. They're not exactly a massive company, and the community here isn't exactly so either, so they need a little bit of help to get themselves moving forward.

I cannot see this as a mere money-grabbing opportunity when they're being so generous about it, and have been very connected with us each step of the way. I think it's time to give them this chance, and see how they grow from there.

Personally, I'd rather hope that they were neither attempting to milk us or pay for their advertising, but again, they've done nothing to show me that this is not the case, either.

lol, as easy as... ppl paid to dub their cartoon, they will sell the dvds and get the money back ... but they will keep it, and the dvds will act as a free AD for the game, then ppl will come to the game, register, sub and they will get even more money, yep, good ol'ankama

Someone start a kickstarter so they can hire some people to work on the game!

LOL

Honestly, it's a good thing. I was googling for some wakfu information and the kickstarter page was high up on the results with pretty pictures and such. It's good advertisement, which they need. Also, bringing the animation to English communities will gain new players and provide more of a world for loyal players to dive into.

I wish I could donate and get an art book but my wallet only allows me to support Ankama via subscription right now. The prizes are really awesome *_*

They'll profit from surpassing the goal, as well. They've also said they might be interested in using the Kickstarter as a way to sell the series in North-American markets, on their Kickstarter, which would be a separate profit from the DVD sales.

And, SaphilC2, that is because no business operates for the purposes of 'getting even'. It exists to profit. If it doesn't, well, that's why things like non-profit organizations exist.

And as Merriden even said, the issue I have isn't that there's a cost involved for translating and shipping the DVDs. I can accept that, and if the Kickstarter was all there was to the issue, I'd be fine with accepting it on the basis that it is being generous. That would be the equivalent of saying "We're french, but we know you really want this series, and that costs money, so let's compromise and give you the chance to fund that".

The difference here, unfortunately contradicting Hylian-Scientist, in some ways, is that that's not all there is to it. Wakfu, the source content, is struggling. Yes, there will always be a loyal fanbase (Of which I consider myself a part of; I just don't think being loyal means being blind), but if the developers cannot stabilize the source content, with the most likely issue being funding, since most of those issues seem to stem from lack of support, lack of developers, or lack of motivation, then this Kickstarter begins to look a whole lot less than generous and a whole lot more like disingenuous and even more like a last stand maneuver to get as much as possible out of the series before it bombs.

And the worst part is that I don't want that to happen. I just want to play the game, but I can't, as I'm being directly affected by those very issues. Wakfu was fresh and cool, and I played since Closed Beta. But that's what I'm saying: All the fan support in the world will not cause the game to succeed, profitably, and the strain is starting to show, and now, the company, Ankama, seems to be acting on a similar understanding of the situation.

Oh dear, did I forget to mention that? (I know I did on our other thread, Overlord, but that's beside the point)

Either way, yes, they are offering both of the manga books *Translated* in digital form as yet another reward for contributing!

So to recap, if you only have a few hours' wages sitting around, you can still get:
-All of the seasons we unlock on beautiful Hi-Def Blu-Ray
-A sweet shirt, whose design is still being voted on
-Some cool signed posters
-An awesome MMO item
-A handy dandy sticker

If you're willing to pay a bit more for your pledge, you can also get some awesome things like:
-Yugo and Nox Krosmaster figurines
-Some beautiful artbooks for the making of season 1
-The beautiful OST for the show
-And of course, everything mentioned above!

On top of all of this, there's also more and more being added as add-ons that you can tack on no matter which tier you're on, like:
-A tofurby plush
-The aforementioned beautiful OST
-The aforementioned beautiful artbooks

So there's plenty to be had in terms of a return for donating.
Heck, this is all even without saying that the anime itself will be dubbed into English!
It's a pretty sweet deal for everyone, and if you're able to help out, I would highly encourage you to do so!